The thing is, the south-side of Chicago suffers a lot of gang violence and honestly, I’m perfectly happy to let them kill each other. If you took out all those news reports you hear about the South-side, the picture would be very, very different.

This is what you get for having this type of open availability to guns.

I went to the Chicago Air & Water Show on Friday and Saturday. Today (Sunday) I’ll be staying home and maybe taking shots if they fly over the house enough. It was my first (and second) time at the show and I really enjoyed it. It would have been nice to have seen the British Red Arrows there (who I think have far more exciting displays than the Blue Angels), but I guess they don’t fly too often over here.

B-2 Stealth Bomber. Photo by Tim Wheatley.

I took a LOT of photos at the event and you can find them all on Flickr.

They started to say that there was rotation in the clouds (something else we’re used to hearing happen out to the south, west and north of us) and that this may lead to a Tornado… But something was different yesterday: This storm – unlike every other since I have been here – was on course to hit Chicago itself. Normally the effect of the Lake on weather systems helps to avoid this kind of situation for the city, but as the clouds got darker, the warnings started to happen more often and eventually, the Tornado warning sirens started to sound in the city – we knew it was coming!

Sheila’s parents had left for home just a little while before the sirens sounded, so obviously Sheila’s main concern was for them. They called us part way through the storm to tell us to look out for the windows blowing in as their car was being blown around and they knew it was strong. They eventually got home and are fine – as are we. It was just crazy…

The worst storms I’ve ever experienced in the UK were less severe then the smallest storm I have ever seen in the Mid-West. The storms out here are just unbelievable and with the temperatures approaching 100° – it’s more likely to get cloud rotation and if the funnel works it’s way down to the ground – a tornado.

The tornado apparently touched down in the suburb Sheila lived in when she met me and has caused a bit of damage. There are 238,000 people currently without power in the Chicago area… But you know what? Like every major storm it’ll get fixed and it’ll get fixed quickly.

The storm started off with what seemed a thunderstorm and then really suddenly the wind kicked up and our chairs on the deck all slid to the left side. One of them looked like it was going to fall down the stairs, so looking at the trees and seeing the wind didn’t seem too bad, I opened the door and pulled it inside (I didn’t have time to secure it or the other chairs, as I felt the air pressure and gusts starting to get stronger). We then came inside, shut off everything electrical that we thought could cause an issue and then I setup my camera to try to get some footage of the storm. Click the image below to go to YouTube and watch the footage…

Click the image above to view the video.

Have you ever heard on the news that someone made a policy proposal, but that someone didn’t accept it, or ‘protested’ it, sat out the debate or didn’t sign for some other reason? That right there, is a politician, supposed to be earning their money (that WE pay them), who decides to ‘sit out’ a debate because they don’t agree with the policy.

In my opinion, this kind of thing is nothing short of a travesty that burns away our taxes…

Here in Chicago it took the local Transit Authority (the CTA) repeatedly threatening to go on strike, cutting services and raise prices over months and months for the local government to come up with funding that would help support them. When they eventually did come up with funding, the CTA said that the funding would only pay off the debts that waiting for a decision had caused them! Soon enough, they’ll be back asking for more money and it’ll happen all over again…

Why don’t these people do their jobs and make some decisions? You win some, you lose some, so being the only person who is stopping legislation when many people agree on it isn’t doing anything except holding things up! Plenty of people vote against the winner at the very highest level of politics, but it’s the majority that usually counts. If you’re out of that majority give it up and save some time, and money.

Anyway, the really sick thing is that my skin sheds and the Kittens eat it. Gross, huh?

I just signed up for one of the new subscription packages the guys at Skype are offering. It allows me to call any landline in 34 countries for nothing more than the $9.95 per month from Skype…

But that is not all, as a part of that subscription you get access to something else, something very cool. “Skype To Go” is given for free with this subscription…

What is Skype To Go? Well, I live in the USA at a 312 area code. Skype To Go gives me a 312 area code number to call (from any phone, including my cell phone), I enter a pin and then I can call those 34 countries, for free! All I might have to pay for, is a 312 to 312 call – which is free for me.

So, what this means is that I can be anywhere in Chicago, including on a Cell phone, I can call the 312 number (local, or usually free call), enter pin number, select speed-dial #1 and my mum will get the call to her landline in Britain. I don’t even need Skype installed on my PC anymore! That contact capability is just $9.95 per month – Skype rocks!

I wander around for an hour or so taking photographs of the Sears Tower from the south-side, the sun comes up and at the same time various dark clouds begin to appear in the sky. “These are probably the clouds – and storm – that were meant to arrive at 3pm yesterday afternoon” – I think to myself.

As I begin to walk back towards the centre of the city I hear a rumble of thunder and the heavens opened… Finding shelter by the side of one of the many skyscrapers I notice a store inside the lobby that would probably sell umbrella’s. I walk in and buy an umbrella that says “Wind-Proof” on the packaging… I walk outside and on only the second or third gust of wind, my “Wind-Proof” umbrella breaks.

Now using my broken umbrella, I continue to wander around. I find the building that I think is the Social Security building and I walk inside to ask one of the Security Guards – he confirms I have found the right place. I memorise the cross-streets that run alongside the building entrance and leave to see if I can find something to eat as I still have about an hour to wait.

I see a McDonald’s Restaurant near the Daley Plaza and wander inside. I walk up to the counter and order a McMuffin, Hash Brown and Coke. I swipe my card and literally not one second later, my food appears next to the payment console. “Wow! That was fast…” I thought to myself.

I sit myself down on a bar stool style seat next to the window. Helpfully there is a bank outside it with one of those temperature and time readouts and someone also left their newspaper. So I read their paper, eat my food and stare out of the window until the clock across the road reads ’8:20am’.

I walk back to the Social Security Administration building, using my broken umbrella to keep myself as dry as I can, go through the ‘airport style’ security in the main lobby and head up the two escalators to the office I need only to find I was beaten to it by about ten other people – and it’s only 8:30am. The office doesn’t even open until 9am! I sit on the floor along with everyone else and as 9am gets closer, more and more people turn up and sit around (there are no chairs in that office lobby).

Then finally it’s 9am and some sort of Security Guard walks up and goes into the office. He looks like one of those guys who probably used to be in the Army, who probably was a Drill Sergeant, who probably could have been in the Marines – but felt they weren’t tough enough for him, you know the type. He gives a little speech before he opens the door, telling everyone to check-in using the computer terminal, take a number and wait until you are called to a window.

As everyone moves towards the door I suddenly find myself no longer the 11th person in line, but the 29th (I counted because it pissed me off). How that happened I have no idea, but the rest of the folks queuing up obviously have no idea how to be polite enough to realize it should be first come, first served. I finally get my ticket printed at 9:05am.

About an hour flashes by and I’m still sat there. I have already noted that people who came long after me have already long-gone, but I’m not bitter, oh no, I’m not bitter. Those people who left, missed one of the most entertaining things I have ever seen in my entire life. The entertainment came from the aforementioned Security Guard and a guy who seems to lack both common sense and decency…

So, it’s about 10:10am. Bearing in mind that what people do in a Social Security office is work with people’s private information, you’d expect people to be pretty respectful of one another’s privacy, wouldn’t you? Well, I watch a man walk up to a window where someone else is being served, he stands right at the side of the other person and starts butting into their conversation. He probably only wanted to know a little thing, he probably only wanted to talk for a moment, but he could have waited… If he had, maybe the Security Guard wouldn’t have seen him and said “Excuse me, Sir? Can you move back and give that Gentleman some privacy?”

No response. He continues trying to talk to the person in the window…

“Sir, move back and give him some privacy.” Says the Guard.

“Sir, move back and give him some privacy.” Says the Guard again.

This time, the man turns and in a pretty disrespectful tone of voice says “What!? MAN!”

The Guard repeats “What. Man? I said can you move back, Sir.”

The Guard notices pretty quickly that he is being ignored and he walks around the desk where people are filling out application forms, walking right infront of me to do so. It’s at this point that I thought to myself how I wouldn’t mess with the Guard…

The man, seeing the Guard approaching him, starts to walk backwards away from the window, but as he does I could hear a few things being said under his breath. He then says “Don’t touch me, man. Don’t put your hands on me.”

The Guard, probably as puzzled as I am by how the man was reacting, says nothing.

As soon as the man said “Don’t fucking put your hands on me, man!” He had crossed a line.

“If I do put my hands on you, your face will be pushed to the floor.” Said the Guard. “You need to leave the building. Now.”

The man, who didn’t seem to have grasped that his visit to the Social Security building was over, just repeated what he’d said before…

Suddenly the Guard in one swift motion seemed to both push and pull the man at the same time. The man ended bent over, with his elbow inverted and his hand being held by the thumb. It sort of looked like the Guard could have broken both the man’s arm and thumb at the same time if he had wanted to. The Guard started to march the guy, still in the arm-hold, to the door while the man continued to say things I couldn’t really understand (because of his accent) except for the swearwords.

Then, the magic happened, the man came out with the funniest thing he could have possibly said… “God Damn, Robo-Cop, Mother Fucker!”

The rest of my day pales in comparison, but never wanting to leave a story unfinished, here it is. I applied for my Social Security Card and it’ll arrive in about two weeks, I waited about two and a half hours in total. After that, I walked (with broken umbrella) back to the nearest Bus Stop for the Bus that goes by our Condo, got the bus, then sat on it for ten minutes while the driver (who presumably doesn’t like the work breaks given to her by law each day), went to the store to buy groceries. Of course, as she is out of the bus, a queue begins to form of various people who’re all getting wet… But hey, at least when the doors opened and my ride continued home it was first come, first served.

I wonder how many will get the movie reference…? I’m not talking about Family Guy!

Go on, stare at it...

I was actually so nervous before the interview that I noticed I had what I can only describe as hives forming on the palm of both my hands. I had convinced myself that we would get denied again and as we walked towards the interview room, following the interviewer, I felt myself starting to relax a little.

We went in, sat down and the interviewer took me through a number of really simple questions, such as where I live, what Sheila’s name is, that sort of thing. I guess if they suspect it’s a scam marriage they probably go deeper into their book of questions, but she never seemed to feel the need with us. Let’s face it, I am not coming to the U.S. for the healthcare system, the gun controls, the social security benefits or the economic stability am I!? I think perhaps the fact I am coming from the UK to the USA helps a lot…

We had to hand over various documents and copies, my birth certificate, Sheila’s birth certificate, proof of shared bank accounts, shared insurance, shared taxes we had filed, etc. We next went through photos of Sheila and I at various things such as weddings, the walk we did in aid of Breast Cancer Research, all that stuff. As we got to each photo the examiner asked us who each person was in each photo and obviously I pointed them out and said their name.

Then suddenly the examiner decided she had seen enough, she sat back in her chair and said: “Well, I think I’ve seen enough so I am going to approve your case today – you will get your Green Card in about two weeks.”

Sheila and I, totally shocked that we got a decision right then, both kind of said: “What?!” Then we both offered for the examiner to see more of the evidence we had brought, kind of still confused and shocked and when the examiner refused again, it finally hit us. So we got up out of our chairs and almost started stumbling towards the door like we both wanted to get out of the office before she changed her mind!

There really are so many people to thank. This has been a really hard thing to go through and the longer I have been away from my family, the more I have missed them and being ‘trapped’ here in the USA, not even being able to visit them, was really horrible. Everyone who helped, I really can’t say it enough: Thank You. You made dealing with all this and coming out of the other side as successful applicants a reality.

If anyone is going through immigration – get a lawyer. We were going through the Immigration process for fifteen months, twelve of those were with a failed application that we did without a lawyer, three months were this successful application where we made use of a lawyer.

If you are looking for a good Immigration Attorney in the Chicago area, try our guy: David Lehman, (312) 360 0050.

Added: 5.4 Magnitude Earthquake just confirmed on TV. :)

Added: You can find out more information at CNN.